Vaginal misoprostol for early second-trimester abortion

Objectives To demonstrate the effectiveness and safety of misoprostol without the need of postexpulsion systematic curettage in early second-trimester abortions, i.e. at 13–15 weeks' gestation.Methods A group of 151 women, with gestations from 85 to 105 days, received 800 μg of vaginal misoprostol every 24 h for a maximum of three doses, without having postexpulsion systematic preventive curettage performed. Outcome measures included successful abortion (complete abortion without requiring a surgical procedure), side-effects, mean expulsion time and mean time of vaginal bleeding.Results Complete abortion occurred in 121/151 subjects (80%; 95% confidence interval, 73–87%).The decrease in hemoglobin was statistically significant (p = 0.0001), but without clinical relevance (11.8 mg/dl (SD.0.9) before treatment and 11.4 mg/dl (SD, 1.0) afterwards). No statistically significant differences were found between the success rate and any of the women's characteristics. Vaginal bleeding lasted 6 ± 3 days, spotting ...